Category Archives: easy

This meal requires no special equipment or techniques.

Impress your friends: Popovers

Posted on May 9, 2010 | 7 comments

Last night I was having dinner with some accomplished, double degree, articulate, well read, savvy, thoughtful, funny women who confessed to me that popovers, mere popovers, might be their undoing in the kitchen. “Too difficult. Aren’t they deep fried?” one said when I tried to describe how easy they are. “You must cook all the time.” (Okay – I do cook all the time – but that is so beside the point.)

I totally get it. How do you get them to puff up like that?  Is it yeast?  Are they deep fried?  They must be terribly unhealthy. No, no and no.

I guess I should have covered popovers before I covered Dutch Babies and Toad-in-the-Hole. You see Popovers are basic. SO easy. They fill in the gap of an otherwise boring meal. Lentil soup becomes quite sophisticated with a popover cozied up alongside. Popovers are a quick and easy answer to a hot dinner roll. They give you an excuse, should you be looking for one, to use honey or jam as a condiment at the dinner table. When I tell you the recipe you won’t believe how easy they are. Everyone will think you’re a culinary genius.

Check it out:

Popovers

makes 12

5 minutes to mix up, 35 minutes in the oven.

  • 1 1/4 c milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbsp melted butter (put it in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds)
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  1. Preheat the oven to 450 F.
  2. Spray a 12 muffin tin or a popover pan thoroughly with canola oil. You want your popovers to fall easily from the pan.
  3. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk the milk and eggs together. Stir in the melted butter. Set aside.
  4. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the flour and salt.
  5. Pour the milk, eggs and butter mixture into the flour and salt. Whisk until fully incorporated; allow a few lumps though. Don’t be too thorough.
  6. Using a ladle, divide the batter equally between the muffin cups. They will be about half full.
  7. Bake for 15 minutes and then turn down the heat to 350 F and bake for another 20 minutes. DO NOT PEEK until the last 5 minutes. The popovers should be nicely browned and crisp.
  8. When they are done, turn them out onto a wire rack and pierce them a little bit with a sharp knife to let the steam out. (so they stay crisp)

Even though I have made popovers many times, I am still irrationally surprised at how they puff. It’s a small miracle and I have no idea what the science is behind it. And that is just fine with me.

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Taco Night

Posted on May 6, 2010 | Leave a comment

Mexican Fiesta. To me, it sounds like the theme for a suburban street party. When I go visit my brother Matt and his wife Ariela in California though, he makes what my friend Candice calls Mexican Fiesta for dinner. Hands down this is the most versatile menu there is. Mexican Fiesta can be anything from a simple cheese quesadilla to the works: grilled skirt steak and chicken, pico de gallo, guacamole, black beans and more. What I love to do is sit in the sun at my brother’s house, lazily scooping up fresh guacamole with a pepper jack cheese quesadilla and a cold beer, watching our kids play. And I love it even more when he goes all out with grilled steak, chicken or fish and the beans and condiments and I can build as many different combinations on corn tortillas as I can imagine.

Not only is this kind of  food very fresh and gorgeous to look at, it also has the advantage of scalability. The meal can easily be made for 1 or 2 people or 40 without any real headaches. You can make all of the components from scratch and make everyone you invited feel like they want to move in with you or you can buy most of the parts pre-made at Trader Joe’s and you’ll still have a very satisfying very quick meal. Vegetarians, vegans, meat eaters, dieters and even picky children are all easily accommodated and no matter what, dinner still tastes good. You can’t really go wrong.

Here is the ultimate menu, the one I like to make for celebrating something. If I had the time or if the avocados were always as ripe and delicious as they were yesterday – I would always make it this way.  For a meal that tastes this lavish and feels this festive – it’s hardly any work at all.

Menu

  • Grilled Skirt Steak with one of the rubs my brother and his wife make for us for Christmas – medium rare
  • Cumin and Coriander Black Beans
  • My brother Matt’s recipe for guacamole
  • Quick Pickled Onions
  • Grated Pepper Jack
  • Grated Monterey Jack
  • Medium and Hot Salsa – like pico de gallo (I would buy this.  Since I’ve had kids I don’t make salsa)
  • Marie Sharps Habanero Sauce (another tip from Matt)
  • Fresh Cilantro Leaves
  • Limes
  • Warm Corn Tortillas – search out the kind that are made of corn, lime and water – nothing else

I made this menu last night for some very good friends who are taking off this weekend on a sail across the Pacific ocean.  They’ll be at sea almost a month before they see land and fresh food, so I wanted to send them off with the memory of something really fresh, made from scratch.

Making this dinner is such a pleasure. The work really pays off.  I love that when I’m done preparing the food I have all these bowls filled with bright colors. The red flecked green guacamole, the confetti of the pico de gallo, bright pink ribbons of pickled onion with a deep red chile nestled just there, the steaming coriander scented black beans in a bright blue bowl, the wedges of translucent limes in a glass bowl, a plate of ruffled cilantro, slivers of creamy cheese in yellow bowls and (and this is probably not for everyone but I LOVE this part) the ragged slices of red skirt steak,with their deeply browned and smoky exterior on a butcher block cutting board. Finally the toasted warm scent of corn tortillas. The smell of all those things together – sharp and smoky and spicy and citrusy. Yum.

If you are in a hurry though, the guacamole can be gotten from Trader Joe’s refrigerator case (the plain one is better – trust me), you could heat up black beans straight from the can (please rinse them first!), skip the pickled onions, one of the cheeses, the Marie Sharp’s and the cilantro and call it a day.  It would still be a really great meal.  Also if your guests don’t eat meat or if you want to have variety, grilled chicken, fish or shrimp would be wonderful instead of or in addition to the skirt steak. Or just have a big bowl of black beans. The endless possibilities!

Dry Rubbed Skirt Steak

Serves 4

  • 1 1/2 lbs skirt steak
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp dry garlic
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • Canola oil spray
  1. Mix all dry ingredients together in a small bowl and rub all over skirt steak.
  2. Let sit at room temperature for 1/2 an hour.
  3. Spray all over the skirt steak lightly with canola oil. Grill over high heat for a TOTAL of 5 minutes – turning half way through.
  4. Allow meat to rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes before slicing thinly across the grain.  If you like your meat quite bloody you could grill it for 3 minutes total. I no longer like mine that rare.

“Matt’s Awesome Guacamole” (with Matt’s excellent and illuminating directions)

Serves 4

Guacamole is three things: Avos, lime and salt. Lime and salt are pretty consistent but a good avo, either Haas or Fuerte , is hard to find, and is truly at the core of good guac. You can have a great recipe and bad avos and the guac’s bad. Or you can have a lousy recipe, and great avos and the guac’s great. So first and foremost, get some good avos.  Buen provecho!

  • 2 avocados
  • 2 tsp lime juice
  • salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • shake of cayenne
  • 1/2 medium sized tomato, diced
  • 1/2 small clove of garlic, finely chopped
  • splash of hot sauce (preferably Marie Sharp’s)
  • One small handful of cilantro, coarsely chopped

You will benefit from a knife, a spoon and a fork in the making of guacamole. Knife to slice and chop. Spoon to remove the avo from the peel. (Don’t pre-dice, take out whole halves from the skin if possible) Fork to mix ingredients.  Throw all the ingredients into a bowl, and mix. Leave it smooth, but with some nice buttery slabs of avo too. Serve with a bowl of tortilla chips, a quesadilla or as a topping on a taco.

Cumin and Coriander Black Beans

Serves 4

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 onion, finely diced
  • pinch of red chile flakes
  • 2 small cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 cans of black beans drained and rinsed
  1. Heat the olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat.
  2. Add the diced onion and cook until softened, 3-5 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic, chile flakes, cumin and coriander and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  4. Add the black beans and stir until warmed thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Quick Pickled Onions

These onions are new. In fact, I found the recipe yesterday and I can’t believe I have lived my whole taco eating life without making them. I didn’t take pictures of the food last night because I wanted to focus on my friends, but believe me when I tell you, these onions are gorgeous and tangy and spicy and ravishing and delicious. And so quick and straight forward to make you have no excuse not to try.

  • 3/4 c. white vinegar (the pickling kind – not fancy white wine vinegar)
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 5 allspice berries
  • 5 cloves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 dried red chile
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced; not insanely thin, as in sliced with a mandolin so you could read the newspaper through them but as thin as possible with a knife (hopefully a sharp 8″ chef’s knife)
  1. In a medium sized non-reactive saucepan mix the vinegar, sugar, allspice, cloves, bay leaf and red chile.
  2. Set the heat to medium high and simmer for 3 minutes.
  3. Add the sliced onion and toss until combined. Then simmer for 30 seconds.
  4. Place in serving dish and chill.

My next project is to learn how to make my own corn tortillas. Obviously these would be for the ultimate version of this menu although from what I have heard they are not too über-chef for a regular old home cook like me!  I’ll let you know.

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Not in Paris … sigh: The Club Sandwich and Curried Chicken Salad

Posted on May 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

Last week I was supposed to be in Paris. Taking the Metro, ambling through the Marais, eating macaron at Ladurée, ascending the escalator to the rooftop terrace of the Pompidou. When the volcano in Iceland started to erupt, I never thought it would affect me! I should have known. The last time I tried to go to Paris, the flight was scheduled for the day after 9/11. Maybe next time I plan to travel, I’ll try Rome.

Anyway, missing my trip wasn’t so bad – not at all. I met my friends in Sonoma instead. I think any Parisian worth their fleur de sel would give their eye teeth to spend a week in Sonoma, particularly in the spring. The produce, the bakeries, the farm fresh eggs – all produced by people who are passionate about what they are making and growing. I was really lucky.

I had some wonderful food last week but the most memorable was this appetizer I had at the Girl and the Fig. Sadly, I didn’t take a photo. Since I didn’t, imagine this: a shatteringly crisp raft of naturally leavened bread, browned in butter and olive oil topped with satiny deep pink slices of prosciutto and charred asparagus. A very fresh egg, also browned in butter, aloft. I have to repeat – this was an incredibly fresh egg – like laid 5 minutes ago – that fresh. Glittering fleur de sel and cracked pepper scattered over and around. And here’s the kicker. I’m not totally sure what it was really – they called it truffle vinaigrette – yet it was so emulsified it was thicker than mayonnaise. To me, it tasted like truffle butter, perfectly softened. Lying casually, one might say beige-ly, on the side of the plate, this truffle-y cream; a stealthily delicious taste to paint with the tip of your knife onto each bite. There might have been a drop of lemon there. The whole thing pushed me over the edge. I talked about it for several days afterwards.

Honestly, I thought I was over truffles. I don’t know who I thought I was kidding.

Even though the dish was very simple, it was the forthright presentation of the ingredients, the lack of showy sauces and transformative techniques; it was so utterly artless, so completely of the season, so fresh. I was knocked out.

I might need to get my own chicken.

After the week away, cooking felt really chore-ish when I got home. So I made sandwiches. So it wasn’t really cooking. Two kinds since Wednesday. We had club sandwiches then curried chicken. Sandwiches were how I got back to the routine.

Club Sandwiches

A Club Sandwich is incredibly easy to make – you just need to channel an assembly line mentality and you can crank them out quickly. I wish I had those ruffled toothpicks every time I make these.

serves 4

  • 12 slices of sandwich bread – toasted (I like multi grain)
  • 8 slices thick cut bacon, browned until crisp
  • 8 slices chicken or 1 breast of chicken, grilled and sliced very thinly
  • 2 hothouse tomatoes, sliced thinly
  • 16 slices of English cucumber, sliced thinly (optional but highly recommended by me!)
  • 8 leaves of romaine, washed and dried
  • mayonnaise ( I like the Trader Joe’s brand)
  • toothpicks (if you can get ruffled ones – go for them)

The layers go like this:

On the bottom: Slice of bread with mayonnaise, topped with lettuce then chicken

In the middle: Slice of bread with mayonnaise, topped with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and bacon – Sprinkle the cucumber and tomato with salt and pepper

On the top: Slice of bread, bottom spread with mayonnaise.

Hold all layers in place with a toothpick.

If you are feeling fancy you could cut the crusts off. I never do this.

Curried Chicken Salad

for 2 generously

Most chicken salad connoisseurs would have you gently poach a chicken breast so that the meat can be shredded before being tossed in lemony mayonnaise. They say that the meat soaks up the dressing better that way and that the shredded meat makes for the best texture. That’s fine. I have made chicken salad that way before and it is exemplary. Sometimes though, I have leftover grilled chicken and with that I like to make curried chicken salad – which is what we had on Friday for lunch. The grilled flavor is set off nicely by the curry powder and I am reminded of tandoori chicken which I love.

  • 1 leftover grilled chicken breast, torn into bite sized pieces or cut into 1/2″ chunks
  • 1/3 c. mayonnaise
  • 1 stick of celery cut into 1/4″ dice
  • 1 green onion, minced
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp minced cilantro (or parsley – but only as a last resort because cilantro is so perfect with curry)
  • 1 tsp curry powder – I like the pondicherry from the Whole Foods label
  • 3 tbsp raisins
  • 1 1/2 tsp honey
  • salt and pepper

Toss all ingredients together in a medium sized bowl until well combined. Serve on toasted bread on which, if you are feeling cavalier, you have spread even more mayonnaise. Often I serve this with sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce in a sandwich. Friday I was lucky I had the energy to even put it on toast.


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Warm Bulgur Salad with Grilled Salmon, Cucumbers and Mint

Posted on April 12, 2010 | 2 comments

Normally I steer away from Family-Friendly-Weeknight-Fast-Only-15-Minutes headings in magazines. It’s not that I’m against any of those sentiments – not at all!  It’s just that if there is a can of artichoke hearts involved or a jar of marinara sauce or a bag of frozen pizza dough, I worry that the resulting dish really won’t be delicious enough. You don’t have to take so many short-cuts to eat well quickly.

Today was really busy though, and I knew I wouldn’t be home until 5:30. I wanted to eat something fresh, easy and fast (all those buzz words!) that I would be able to put together in 1/2 an hour or less – no crazy chopping, no long marinating, nothing like that. So I found myself flipping through the “Family-Friendly-Fast” section of a magazine. Here I found “Minty Bulgur Salad with Salmon and Cucumbers”. It looked promising and turned out to be delicious. As always, I steered away from the finickier parts.  The author would have you cool the salmon and bulgur in the fridge after cooking – not for me! I say it’s more delicious, more flavorful and – dare I say – more elegant to serve it just barely warm.

On the side, we had beautifully charred, salt and pepper-y grilled asparagus.

Warm Bulgur Salad with Grilled Salmon, Cucumbers and Mint

  • 1 tbsp delicious green olive oil, or more to taste
  • 1 1/4 pounds salmon fillet
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups bulgur
  • 1/2  an English cucumber
  • 10-12 small tomatoes
  • 1 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, stems removed
  • 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, larger leaves torn
  • 1/2 cup thin slivers of red onion
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • good red wine vinegar to taste
  1. First, boil a kettle of water. While the water is boiling, put the bulgur into a medium sized heat proof bowl. Pour three cups of boiling water over the bulgur, briefly stir and leave to sit for 25 minutes (or more if you’re not quite done with the other parts of the recipe.  It shouldn’t take much longer than that though.)
  2. Put the red onion slivers in a small bowl with cold water to cover.  Add a splash of vinegar and set aside.
  3. Thinly slice the cucumber and halve the tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper
  4. Heat up the outdoor grill or your grill pan. Season the salmon with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper. Spray or brush generously with olive oil. If the grill is gas, set the heat to direct medium. With a grill pan, medium high on the stove should be right.  You want to get that grill or pan good and hot – then things won’t stick to it. Lay the salmon flesh side down. Grill for 7-8 minutes on the flesh side. The general wisdom will tell you that salmon fillet is done when you cook it 5 minutes each side – but that is not really the case.  After 5 minutes on a non-stick surface, salmon will cling to the pan or the grill with a vice-like grip.  You could try to flip it but the whole crisp and grill marked surface will be ruined. BUT! if you wait another minute or two, carefully lifting an edge with a thin metal spatula, the filet will slide right off like a slipper and you won’t have mangled the grill marks.   7-8 minutes on the flesh side, 3 on the skin side – that’s how you grill perfect salmon.
  5. As the salmon is grilling, drain the bulgur and the onions. Toss bulgur with the olive oil, lemon juice and red wine vinegar to taste. Season with salt and pepper. Add the onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley and mint. You can flake the salmon and toss everything together on a large platter or serve larger pieces of the salmon over the warm salad, which is what I did.

Grilled Asparagus

The thicker variety is best here – the pencil thin asparagus just falls through the grate and also becomes terribly mushy. Conveniently, the asparagus cooks at the same temperature and for nearly the same time as the salmon!

  • 1 lb asparagus, washed and woody ends snapped off
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  1. Toss the asparagus with 2 tsp olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper
  2. Grill for 6-8 minutes on direct medium heat, flipping once.
  3. Serve.

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Five Spice Pork with Chinese Egg Noodles

Posted on April 8, 2010 | Leave a comment

I have a big beef with fake-y Chinese food and weird ingredient substitutions. For instance, I have never had any success with Dan Dan Noodles using peanut butter. It always comes out gloopy. There is this one recipe in Joy that fails miserably. In my copy I have a note next to “Spicy Peanut Sesame Noodles” in thick blue indelible ink that states: “DO NOT TRY TO MAKE THIS AGAIN!”. Barefoot Contessa and Cook’s Illustrated recipes aren’t any better. Also, I never feel that spaghetti is an adequate substitute for Chinese egg noodles. I don’t know what it is exactly but Italian noodles just don’t have the same bounce as the Chinese kind.

Still, I am always looking for recipes that will give me that exotic hit, without a trip to Uwajimaya, the fantastic but somewhat out of the way Asian grocery here in Seattle. There’s nothing like inhaling steaming star anise scented broth, savoring the hot caramel notes of sauteed garlic and chillies or the salt and tang of fermented black beans in the middle of a busy week but often there isn’t time to swan around town, scavenging for ingredients. This recipe doesn’t call for anything esoteric. Ok, maybe you can’t easily find those bags of tangled fresh Chinese egg noodles in grocery stores outside of bigger towns and cities – I don’t really know – but all of the other ingredients are common in most big American grocery stores these days.

In this dish there is bacon to mimic the smoky barbecue pork flavor missing from plain old ground pork. Also Worcestershire, which I’ve seen in other American versions of Chinese dishes and I have to say, I find it a little disconcerting. I won’t let it get to me though. Actually, I’m happy that I haven’t tasted the original dish, because if I knew what this was really supposed be like, I might not prepare this pork and noodle dish again (I bet there’s a word for this arcane kind of snobbery). However, this recipe is so easy, fast and kid friendly, with that exotic whiff of China, it would be a shame not to make it from time to time.

Don’t let my photograph, which makes it look like brown glop on spaghetti, put you off. It tastes much better than the photograph would have you think, trust me. It would have been much more handsome served in individual bowls…maybe with thicker noodles.  I’ll just have to play with it.

Five Spice Pork with Chinese Egg Noodles

Serves 6

  • 3/4 cup peanuts
  • 4-5 thick slices of bacon
  • 3 medium cloves of garlic
  • One 3″ piece of ginger
  • 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 1 1/4 lbs ground pork
  • 3/4 tsp five-spice powder
  • 5 scallions, thinly sliced, white ends separated from green tops
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 1/2 tbsp dark Asian sesame oil
  • 3 tsp white vinegar
  • 1 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1 1/4 lbs fresh Chinese egg noodles
  1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and salt.
  2. Into a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, Worcestershire, sesame oil, vinegar, and sugar. Set aside.
  3. As the water is heating, start chopping. If you want this to be really fast, use your food processor.
  4. First roughly chop the nuts; if using the processor, pulse. Set aside.
  5. Then, cut the bacon into 1″ pieces and roughly chop the garlic and ginger. Put the bacon, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes into the food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
  6. Over medium heat, place a 12″ heavy duty sauté pan add the contents of the food processor. Cook, mashing it apart (a metal potato masher like this one works really well for this), until the bacon renders its fat and browns. This should take 4 minutes.
  7. Add the ground pork, five spice powder and 1/4 tsp salt and raise the heat to medium high. Break up the pork with a wooden spoon (unless of course you have that potato masher – it works particularly well for ground pork) and cook until it loses its pink, raw color – this should take 3 minutes.
  8. At this point the water should be boiling, so add the noodles and cook following the package instructions.
  9. Add the white part of the scallions and the contents of the bowl from step 2 (soy sauce, Worcestershire, sesame oil, vinegar, and sugar.) Stir the contents of the pan and heat thoroughly.
  10. Drain the noodles and toss them into the pork mixture.  Divide between individual bowls and sprinkle with scallion greens and peanuts.


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Shrimp, Avocado and Mango

Posted on April 1, 2010 | 5 comments

Sometimes, you have to go off road to get exactly what you want. It’s funny; when I got the idea that I wanted a shrimp and avocado and either grapefruit or mango salad for dinner, I thought there would be at least half a dozen recipes at my fingertips in my stacks of cookbooks. Nope. Not one.

I tried all the usual suspects: Weber’s Big Book of Grilling, Forever Summer (Nigella Lawson), various titles from the Barefoot Contessa (although I never, ever find anything I want to eat in her books – pretty pictures though). I even checked Shirley Corriher’s Cookwise – I always wish I could find something there because it’s so well researched, and invariably I have to look elsewhere.

Finally, in desperation, I checked Joy. Nothing. Not specifically anyway. I kept flipping through and finally found two recipes I could cobble together. What is it about Joy of Cooking? I wouldn’t be without it.  People denigrate it.  They complain that it has no pictures and that the recipes are written in a laborious way. I admit, it is an old fashioned kind of book. Other fancier cookbooks left me high and dry today though and Joy had all the pieces I needed to put dinner together. Look how it came out:

I was pretty happy. No. Better than that. Very happy. We all were. No complaints today. In retrospect, the only thing I might have added were either some toasted pine nuts or frizzled shallots.

So, cobbled together from the Joy of Cooking:

Cilantro Grilled Shrimp with Avocado and Mango Salad

Serves 4

For the shrimp:

  • 1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp – medium or large (I buy them pre-peeled and deveined, sustainably farm raised – peeling and deveining is too time consuming)
  • 1/3 c lime juice – from 3-4 juicy limes
  • 3 tbsp chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 tsp chili flakes
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground pepper

For the salad:

  • 2-3 lemons (for a total of 1/4 c + 2 tbsp juice and 1 lemon half to keep avocados from browning)
  • 1/4 c water
  • 2 ripe Hass avocados
  • 2 Ataulfo mangos (these are the golden variety, or one of the other greenish larger kind)
  • 1/2 a large red onion, very thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 2 hearts of romaine, washed and torn into bite sized pieces
  1. Start the coals or heat up a gas grill.
  2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the lime juice, cilantro, chili flakes, salt and pepper together. Add shrimp to bowl and toss. Set aside to marinate as you prepare the red onion, salad dressing and mango.
  3. Rinse the onion slices in several changes of water. In a small bowl, toss them with 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 c water and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper. Set aside.
  4. In small bowl, whisk 1/2 c olive oil, 2 tbsp lemon juice and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper. Set aside.
  5. Peel and cut mangos into 1/4″ slices.
  6. Thread the shrimp onto 6″ bamboo skewers. (I had 10 skewers with 4 shrimp on each)
  7. Peel and cut avocados into 1/4″ slices. Squeeze the 1/2 lemon over the slices to prevent browning.
  8. Grill the shrimp skewers over direct medium heat for 3 minutes per side.
  9. Toss the romaine with half the olive oil vinaigrette.
  10. Arrange the mangos and the avocados over the romaine. Drain the onion slices and strew over the salad. Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette over everything. Arrange the shrimp skewers on top.

*Since we have a possible shrimp allergy with one of the kids, I grilled a chicken breast with the shrimp.  The salad can be served with either chicken or fish or on its own.

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Toad in the Hole

Posted on March 29, 2010 | 2 comments

Another recipe for Lisa:

Toad in the Hole is a terrible name. To the uninitiated it probably sounds disgusting. Toad in the Hole looks strange too. Rows of browned sausages set adrift on a golden sea of Yorkshire Pudding. I made “Toad” for dinner on Friday because it’s fast – and fascinating and appealing to kids – even the picky kind. I love this kind of British comfort food – it can be delicious if you don’t cut corners and buy average sausages. I always go to A & J Meats up on Queen Anne if I’m going to make Toad in the Hole.

Kids find the name intriguing. Like other odd British food names, (Spotted Dick, Bubble and Squeak, Bangers and Mash, Potted Tongue come to mind) the name Toad-in-the-Hole makes for wonderful kid dinner table conversation. Why is it called that? What if it really was toads?! – ew! How does it puff up? I can’t think of any kid who doesn’t groove on all the puffy foods in this category: popovers, Yorkshire Pudding, Dutch Babies. Even though the puffy pancake is mostly unfamiliar territory to Americans I haven’t met even a picky kid who doesn’t want to give Toad-in-the-Hole a try. A big doughy and crispy raft with sausages on top and some lightly steamed green beans. It’s easy and just the thing.

For me, Toad-in-the-Hole would be perfect with a hot cup of tea with milk. Ketchup is ok with this if you must.

Toad-in-the-Hole

English Food, Jane Grigson

Serves 4-6, takes about 50 minutes start to finish

  • 3 tbsp canola oil
  • 1 pound excellent quality pork sausages, nothing too exotic in the flavoring department
  • 1 3/4 c flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cups of milk
  1. Set the oven to 425 F.
  2. Separate the links of the sausages using kitchen scissors.
  3. Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat for a minute or two.
  4. Add 1 tbsp of canola oil to the hot pan; when it shimmers, add the sausages. Spend about 5 minutes getting a good crisp exterior.
  5. Set the sausages aside on a plate.
  6. Put 2 tbsp of the canola oil and any leftover drippings from the sausages in a 9×13 baking dish and put it in the oven. Now proceed quickly with the batter in the next three steps; the oil needs to be hot, not burnt.
  7. Mix the flour and the salt in a medium sized bowl.
  8. Make a well in the middle and break the eggs into it.
  9. Add a little milk and, beginning in the center, stir the ingredients into a batter while gradually pouring in the rest of the milk.  The batter will be creamy and pourable.
  10. Remove the baking dish from the oven and pour about 1/4 of the batter into the pan to make a thin layer that completely covers the bottom. You don’t have to be exact.
  11. Bake for 5 minutes.
  12. Remove from the oven again, and place the sausages on top and pour in the rest of the batter.
  13. Bake a further 30-35 minutes until the batter is all puffy and brown. Now would be a good time to prepare any vegetables.
  14. Call the kids to come and see as you take it out of the oven – the golden finale is dramatic!

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Finally. A soup for my sister.

Posted on March 22, 2010 | 9 comments

Lisa – this soup is for you.

Our family has had many memorable meals from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Her Bolognese, her pesto, La Grande Insalata Mista, cannelloni, fresh pasta, focaccia, the Roast Chicken with Lemons. All memorable, all standbys. Although it has been a couple of years since Chick Pea Soup has been in rotation, I bet I have made this soup over 100 times. How should I describe it? For a grown-up, this soup can be rustic Italian; for a kid, it’s an easy going pasta and beans; for a baby this soup could be food, could be a toy, and it’s definitely great for practicing small motor skills.

I made Chick Pea Soup today but what I initially wanted to make was Alice Water’s Pasta e Fagioli –  the one I wrote about in my very first blog post. I love that soup but you have to soak the beans in advance. I can never bring myself to use canned cannellini. Canned cannellini are too mushy and they don’t deserve to go in Alice Waters’ soup. Canned garbanzo beans are another story. Although I usually like to soak and cook my own, today was a very busy day and I had to take short cuts. When I realized at 2 pm that I’d forgotten about soaking cannellini or cranberry beans and that I hadn’t any more time to go to the market, I knew it was time. Time to make the soup that was probably the initial inspiration for this blog. This soup is the reason that I always keep cans of chick peas, boxes of Pacific brand organic chicken stock and canned tomatoes in the house. I have slightly adjusted the quantities of the soup so that there will be no leftovers from the cans. Two cans of chick peas, one quart box of chicken stock, a large can of tomatoes, half a pound of pasta. Done.

We had a whatever-is-left-in-the-crisper salad and Boursin and crackers on the side. I was going to write that this meal was not my proudest moment but I think I’m going to have to take that thought back. Making a meal that satisfies every person in the family, without a special trip to the grocery store, using just what’s on hand, is something to be very proud of.

Last Minute Menu

  • Chick Pea Soup
  • Whatever Salad (ours was romaine, tomatoes, carrots…and feta?! Weird but fine.)
  • Boursin and water crackers

Chick Pea Soup – pasta variation

Serves 6

Chick Pea Soup is unlike most soups in that it is not particularly soupy. Most Americans would beg that this is not soup at all as there is hardly any broth. What I say is that if Marcella says this is soup then I do too. It is a lovely soup. As Marcella states:

Soup is one of the tastiest things one can do with chick peas.

I have to say I agree.

  • 4 whole garlic cloves, peeled (no need to chop!)
  • 1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
  • a small sprig of fresh rosemary (you really should have a plant in the back yard!) or 1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
  • (1) 28 oz can tomatoes, drained of their juice
  • (2) 14 oz cans chick peas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 quart chicken broth
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 lb elbow pasta (I like the ribbed Barilla elbows)
  • Grated parmesan to serve
  1. Put the olive oil and garlic cloves into a 5-6 quart heavy bottomed soup pot and turn on the heat to medium. Sauté the garlic until it becomes light brown all over and then remove them from the pot (you can toss the garlic out).
  2. Add the rosemary sprig (or dried rosemary if that’s all you’ve got) and immediately add the tomatoes. They will sizzle wildly for a few minutes. I stand as far back as I can with an apron on and my kitchen scissors in hand and quickly snip all the whole tomatoes into 3/4″ pieces. A normal person would just get out the cutting board and chop them up beforehand. If you value your shirts and your hands, I recommend that you do this.
  3. Cook for 20-30 minutes over medium low heat. You’ll be ready to continue when the oil floats free of the tomatoes.
  4. Add the drained chickpeas and stir thoroughly. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  5. Add the broth, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
  6. Add the pasta, and stir every few minutes, following the cooking time stated on the box. Stirring frequently will keep the pasta from sticking to the pot.  Cooking pasta this way is very different from cooking it in copious amounts of salted water.
  7. Season with salt and pepper and serve with freshly grated parmesan.

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Faux pho

Posted on March 21, 2010 | 1 comment

Faux pho (which I guess is pronounced “foh – fuh”) is a lot easier to make than true phở. True phở has a bunch of exotic ingredients which, in this house anyway, make it a tall order – especially on a day like crazy Thursday. Saigon cinnamon, star anise, roasted ginger, black cardamom, coriander seed, fennel seed and clove.  Out of those I know I have the coriander, the fennel and the clove. And the star anise. Most people don’t have star anise and I have to admit, mine has been sitting around for awhile. Also the broth has beef bones and chicken parts and a lot of other things that make true phở not for the faint of heart and really not for last minute, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants types. A bummer if you ever crave phở in the middle of the week and it’s not practical to go out.

Faux pho is a different story. I made faux pho last Thursday and although it was a little insane to make it for the first time mid-week, I know that I’ll make it again and that next time it will be MUCH easier.

You might look at the picture and the list of ingredients for this soup and then see that I categorized it as Fast and Easy and come to the conclusion that I’ve either lost my mind or that my chopping hand is bionic (it’s not). I’m not crazy either. The prep for this soup isn’t bad at all. Do all of the knife work up front. If you chop everything before you start a recipe, the process goes a lot faster and there’s a lot less fumbling around as you cook. Also here is a Rule of Thumb (I can’t emphasize this enough):

The first time you make any recipe with a long-ish list of unfamiliar ingredients, don’t make it mid-week. Make it on Sunday afternoon so you can read the directions carefully and leisurely play around with it.

With this recipe it’s especially important because it’s not that hard or time consuming. Trying a recipe with more prep than you are used to mid-week might be so stressful that you’ll never try to make that really great recipe again. In this one there are no difficult techniques. There is some chopping, not too much.  Just the shallots, ginger, the green onion and the chili.  Think about it. How long could it possibly take to chop the ingredients in those small quantities?!

If you’ve never prepared lemongrass before, you’ll want to read the directions about trimming and removing the outer layer a couple of times before you start (since the line of directions has only 17 words – it won’t take that long). And you’ll see very quickly that lemongrass is not a big deal, no more difficult than prepping a scallion.

A couple more things: First, I rewrote the recipe and tried to break it down into essential parts.  It looks longer this way but the scope of work should be crystal clear. Also I adjusted the role of the chilies. In the original recipe they are added with the basil, the lime juice and the soy sauce. Since I had green thai chilies they were nearly indistinguishable from the scallions. It was as if those innocuous little green rings were crazy spicy naval mines in the soup – ambushing unsuspecting children and less seasoned adults. Those bird’s eye chilies are hot! So I specify using the red variety (so you don’t confuse them with the scallions) and using them as a garnish.

Chicken Noodle Soup with Lemongrass

Serves 4

The Soup:

  • 2 1/2 tbsp canola oil
  • 3/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
  • kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 3 shallots (4 oz total), peeled and sliced into thin rings
  • 2 stalks lemongrass, ends trimmed, outer layers peeled off and discarded, halved lengthwise, whacked once hard with a mallet
  • 1 tbsp minced ginger
  • 2 tsp packed light brown sugar
  • 5 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
  • 3 1/2 oz shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
  • 12 ounces fresh udon noodles
  • 8 large fresh basil leaves, torn
  • 1 medium lime, half juiced and half cut into 4 wedges
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce

To Garnish:

  • 2 medium scallions, trimmed and sliced
  • 1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks (or coarsely grated)
  • 1/2 c. fresh cilantro leaves, rinsed and dried
  • 1 red thai bird chili, sliced into thin rings

Preparing the chicken:

  1. Heat 1 1/2 tbsp canola oil in a 6 quart heavy bottomed soup pot until shimmering.
  2. As oil is heating, season chicken breasts with 1/2 tsp kosher salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper.
  3. Cook chicken breasts without disturbing for 2 minutes, or until the chicken easily releases from the pan. Flip and cook until the second side is browned, 1-2 minutes more.
  4. Place chicken on a cutting board to cool.

Bring a pot of salted water to the boil for the udon as you are preparing the broth.

Making the broth:

  1. Add the remaining 1 tbsp canola oil and shallots to the pan.  Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp salt. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 2 minutes or until shallots begin to soften.
  2. Add lemongrass, ginger and brown sugar, cook until ginger and lemongrass become fragrant and the pan starts to sizzle – about 1 minute.
  3. Add the chicken broth, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.  Raise the heat to medium high.  Bring the broth to a boil, then lower heat and simmer.
  4. Add the mushrooms and continue to simmer for 5 minutes.

Preparing the udon:

  1. In the pot of boiling salted water, cook the noodles, stirring once or twice to ensure they aren’t sticking together.
  2. Simmer for 3 minutes or until just tender.
  3. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking.  Drain well.

Assembling the soup:

  1. Shred the chicken with your fingers or the tines of a fork and add it and the noodles to the broth.
  2. Simmer until the chicken is fully cooked and the noodles are tender, about 2 minutes.
  3. Remove and discard the lemongrass.
  4. Add the basil, lime juice and soy sauce, seasoning with more soy to taste.
  5. Divide the noodles and chicken between 4 large bowls, ladle the broth over the top.
  6. Serve with bowls of the garnishes at the table.

*What makes this pho really faux is that the recipe developers at Fine Cooking decided to make it with udon, not rice noodles. Initially I was suspicious. Why substitute udon for rice? They are equally easy to find and prepare. After trying the soup with udon though, it tasted more substantial than with rice noodles.  I might not use the japanese noodles every time, but it was fun to eat the bouncy chewy udon here.


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Halibut Season

Posted on March 11, 2010 | 7 comments

I have been meaning to write up my old stand-bys, the ones my sister begged me to start blogging about right from the beginning. The store cupboard favorites; the fast, straightforward menus that everyone should have in their back pocket. I really meant to write about what my friend Candice refers to as Mexican Fiesta today. I really did. Mexican Fiesta is a wonderful concept. It’s easily scalable, accommodating 2-20 people with little fuss. It can be very simple or elaborate. Trader Joe’s can do a lot of the work or none.  I love Mexican Fiesta. In fact, we had the perfect mid-range Mexican Fiesta on Saturday, with pictures and everything, that I have been trying to find time to write up. But I got side-tracked…

That’s because halibut season began this week. My neighbor Susan reminded me about it yesterday.  What you need to look for is Pacific halibut and here is why: Pacific halibut is caught on long-lines which cause little to no environmental damage. These fish are not over-fished and are rated the best choice of all the flat fish by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood WATCH. I am so thankful that there are environmentally friendly halibut to eat because halibut is completely delicious. A firm yet tender fish, it is mild yet meaty. I love it.

Initially when I glanced at the recipe and saw three sections of preparation, I quailed. Wednesday is not the easiest day to try something new, let alone something that has three separate parts to produce. Then I started reading the recipe through. Clearly each part was very easy. The result was totally delicious and not at all boring old run-of-the-mill. The recipe explores the incredibly useful sear-roasting technique, allowing the cook to caramelize the exterior of the fish while protecting the moist interior. It’s a simple approach that we all should master.

Halibut Menu

Serves 4

  • Sear-Roasted Halibut with Horseradish Aïoli and Lemon Zest Breadcrumbs
  • Mashed Yukon Gold potatoes
  • Hot buttered peas

Game Plan

About 40 minutes prep – when I write that I am assuming that all the ingredients have been assembled, i.e. the breadcrumbs are already made, the lemon zest has been grated  etc. – as stated in the recipe

  1. 40 minutes before you want to eat: peel 4 large yukon gold potatoes, cut into 2-3″ chunks and put them in a pot of water: cover by at least 1″.  Set to boil.
  2. Place peas and water in the steamer in a pot on the stove.
  3. Preheat oven to 425 F.
  4. Prepare Halibut recipe’s breadcrumbs and aïoli.
  5. Check potatoes. When nearly soft enough for mashing, begin searing the halibut.
  6. When the fish is in the oven, start steaming the peas. Then mash the potatoes with plenty of whole milk, butter, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Dress parsley salad.

Sear-Roasted Halibut with Horseradish Aïoli and Lemon Zest Breadcrumbs

This recipe was originally printed in Fine Cooking and authored by Seattle chef Tom Douglas.

Lemon Zest Breadcrumbs

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup coarse fresh breadcrumbs (from a rustic loaf)
  • 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Make the lemon zest bread crumbs:

  1. In a large skillet heat the oil over medium-high heat – the oil should shimmer.
  2. Add the breadcrumbs and cook, stirring, until golden and crunchy – about 2 minutes
  3. Transfer to a small bowl and let cool.
  4. Add the lemon zest and season with salt and pepper. Taste it! Make sure you’ve added enough salt and pepper. It should taste so you want to eat more of it.

Horseradish Aïoli

  • 5 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 2 tsp bottled horseradish
  • 3/4 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp tomato paste
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Make the aïoli:

In a small bowl stir together all the ingredients. Taste as you add the salt and pepper. This sauce was so delicious that my 3-year-old got a spoon and was eating it like pudding – albeit a mayonnaise-based, horseradish-flavored pudding!

Halibut

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 thick skinless halibut fillets – about 6oz each
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 cups fresh flat leaf parsley, washed and dried
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Sear roast the fish:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 F.
  2. Heat the oil in a heavy non-stick skillet over medium high heat  (I don’t have an oven safe non-stick skillet – at least the handle doesn’t look like it should go in the oven – so I wrap the handle with a couple of layers of aluminum foil)
  3. Pat the fish dry and season with 1/2 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
  4. When the oil is shimmering, place the fillets in the pan, skinned side up. Sear for 2 minutes. Don’t keep checking or moving the fish around. If you fuss with it you’ll ruin the sear.
  5. After 2 minutes lift up a corner to see that the fillets are nicely browned. Flip them and remove pan from the heat.
  6. Spread the aïoli over each fillet and then layer with bread crumbs. Put the pan in the preheated oven for 5 or 6 minutes.
  7. While the fish is roasting, toss the parsley with the juice of half the lemon and 1 tsp of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Taste it. Does it need more salt and pepper? Cut the remaining lemon-half into wedges and use them to garnish each plate.
  8. Remove the fish from the oven and plate with parsley salad tossed artfully over the top (I didn’t quite manage the artful part – good luck with that), mashed potatoes and buttered peas.

In anticipation of this menu, my 7-year-old became very dramatic: sighing, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. He even asked if he would be able to eat “something different”. And yet he ate every last scrap. We all did.

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